Last week Communities 1st and our Community Help Hertfordshire partners hosted a webinar to outline the voluntary, community and faith sector response to the Ukraine crisis. Speakers included the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, The British Red Cross, Herts Mind Network and Citizens Advice, and together they provided a very useful overview of the support available for hosts and guests across Hertfordshire.
Communities 1st are continuing to work with our partners at Community Help Hertfordshire, as well as a county wide network of voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations, to collate a list of support resources for Ukrainian guests and hosts. If your organisation is offering support, or bringing guests and hosts together, do let us know. If your organisation needs support to work with Ukrainians, please get in touch. From Wed 8 June, Communities 1st will be offering a community space each week for Ukrainians to meet other Ukrainians and for hosts to meet other hosts with the aim of providing mutual support. For more details please contact memberservices@communities1st.org.uk
If your organisation needs support or guidance with any area relating to funding, group development, policies or training, please email memberservices@communities1st.org.uk or phone Christine on 01727 743018.
Best wishes,
Stephen Craker
Chief Executive
COMMUNITIES 1ST INFORMATION AND SUPPORT
If you want more information you can visit our website: www.communities1st.org.uk/Covid-19Updates or contact our Voluntary Sector support team on 01727 743018.
INFORMATION TO SUPPORT VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
Virtual Weekly Drop-in Support Sessions
Did you know, that as a member of Communities 1st, we can offer you support on a wide range of topics, including funding, governance and policies and volunteer recruitment, as well as opportunities to network and work with other voluntary sector organisations? Our weekly Virtual Drop-in Support Sessions for voluntary sector organisations take place every Wednesday at 11am via Zoom. Drop in to tell us what you are working on, what support you need and to connect with other local voluntary sector organisations.
The sessions are friendly, informal and constructive. Come along anytime you need to.
To register or for more information please visit https://www.communities1st.org.uk/DropInSessions
Able2Enable
Communities 1st is running the Able2Enable project across St Albans, Hertsmere, Welwyn Hatfield, Broxbourne and East Herts. We are looking for organisations to become Able2Enable Allies, willing to work with us to host a supported volunteer on an ongoing basis.
Volunteering should be accessible and open to all individuals. Sometimes people need a bit of extra support to volunteer and overcome barriers such as a lack of confidence and motivation, difficulty communicating, problems completing application forms or anxiety about travelling to unfamiliar venues and meeting new people. Able2Enable works with these individuals to enable them to get into volunteering positions.
There are many benefits for organisations hosting a supported volunteer. We can offer you a committed volunteer to support your work, access to our ongoing support, training and guidance to make your workplace more accessible and inclusive to our volunteers, and support to ensure that our volunteer is able to take on the role. You will benefit by having a committed volunteer that can support your work and the satisfaction of supporting your local community. Hosting a supported volunteer can also help to diversify your organisation.
If you would like to refer a volunteer needing some extra support, if you are interested in hosting a volunteer through Able2Enable, or simply to know more about the project and its impact within the community, please contact us at able2enable@communities1st.org.uk
Area for Nature and Community by Garston Railway Station
Groundwork East, the local environmental charity, has teamed up with Communities 1st member the Abbey Line Community Rail Partnership and Network Rail to develop an area of land for use by nature and the local community. The site is located directly east of Garston Railway station on the Abbey Line. It is currently a small, untidy and under-used piece of land but is being designed to become a nature garden, improving the biodiversity of the area whilst at the same time being suitable for local community activities.
It will offer space for small local groups to get together for gardening activities, or giving opportunities to learn about wildlife through watching birds, butterflies, bugs and other creatures.
The Abbey Line and Groundwork East are seeking feedback on the plans from the local community. They have created a short questionnaire, which also gives full information of the current plans for the new garden. They are seeking as many responses as possible to help them finalise their plans for the site. The questionnaire can be found here.
If you think your group might like to make use of the space, please let the Abbey Line CRP know via the questionnaire so they can get in touch with you. Alternatively, please contact Rob Varney at robert.varney@communities1st.org.uk
Let's celebrate safely in Hertsmere
Hertsmere Borough Council is working with the Food Standards Agency on how to serve up safe food this Jubilee.
As many members of Communities 1st are organising community events for the Jubilee, this information may be valuable to keep everyone safe while celebrating together.
To ensure a risk-free celebration, remember warm weather and outdoor cooking are the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow, and risks remain when preparing and serving chilled food in these conditions.
Planning an event in Hertsmere? Here are some simple tips if you're making food for large numbers of people:
- wash your hands regularly with soap and water before food preparation and consumption
- always wash fresh fruit and vegetables
- keep raw and ready-to-eat foods apart
- do not use food past its use-by date
- always read any cooking instructions and make sure food is properly cooked before you serve it – it needs to be piping hot
- ensure that food preparation areas are cleaned and sanitised before and after use and ensure equipment is washed in hot soapy water
- plan ahead to keep your food cool until you're ready to eat. Any foods which you would usually keep in the fridge at home also need to be kept cool on your picnic. This includes; any food with a use-by-date, cooked dishes, salads and dairy products
- place these foods in a cool box or cool bag with ice or frozen gel packs. Distribute these throughout the box or bag, not all at the bottom. You can also use frozen drinks to help keep your cool box cold. Store cold food below five degrees to prevent bacteria from growing.
You do not need a food hygiene training certificate to make and sell food for charity events, however, you need to make sure that you handle food safely. Following FSA guidance on the 4 C’s: cleaning, chilling, cooking, avoiding cross-contamination will help you prepare a safe feast for your community.
If you are putting on a one-off event for friends and neighbours, you do not need to register, however if any food businesses are present they must be registered with the local council.
Find out more about holding a community event and contact your local food safety team on the Food Standards Agency website or read more here.
Open Consultation - Mental health and wellbeing plan: discussion paper and call for evidence
The government has committed to develop a new cross-government, 10-year plan for mental health and wellbeing for England to support this objective.
The objective is to ensure the new plan responds to the public’s priorities and set out what we can all do as a whole society to drive better outcomes. We all have mental health, and all have a part to play in changing things for the better.
Therefore, the government is launching a discussion paper and call for evidence to ask the public a range of questions to help develop the new plan.
This discussion paper is asking people:
- how can we all promote positive mental wellbeing?
- how can we all prevent the onset of mental ill-health?
- how can we all intervene earlier when people need support with their mental health?
- how can we improve the quality and effectiveness of treatment for mental health conditions?
- how can we all support people living with mental health conditions to live well?
- how can we all improve support for people in crisis?
The easiest way to participate in the call for evidence is by completing the online survey by 11.45 pm on Thursday July 7th, 2022. However, if you would like to print and return your completed response, this is also possible. Read more here.
Evaluation of the VCSE COVID-19 Emergency Funding
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the VCSE fund evaluation assessing the impact and delivery of the COVID-19 emergency funding package for VCSE organisations. The final report and separate case study report can be found on the government website here.
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
Every day, millions of people across the UK are making a difference by volunteering.
Each year, outstanding examples of this work are celebrated through the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS). Created in 2002 for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, QAVS awards have been shining a light on the fantastic work of voluntary groups for many years.
Equivalent to an MBE, QAVS are the highest awards given to local voluntary groups in the UK, and they are awarded for life.
Nominations for the 2023 awards are now open. Nominations for the 2023 awards will be accepted until the 15 September 2022. You can read more about it and learn how to apply here.
TRAINING AND WEBINARS
Upcoming Training with the National Academy for Social Prescribing
The National Academy for Social Prescribing is hosting some interesting events in the coming months, as part of their ongoing support to organisations that promote social prescribing in their local communities. All organisations in the East of England are welcome to join.
The next NASP Webinar will be on “Volunteering for wellbeing through social prescribing” and will take place on Tuesday, June 7th, 9.30-10.30 am.
Join us as we launch our guide to Volunteering for Wellbeing through social prescribing!
We’ll talk about the wellbeing benefits associated with positive, well-managed volunteering through social prescribing, including:
- improved life satisfaction,
- increased happiness, and
- decreases in symptoms of depression.
This webinar brings together expertise and experience from those who support volunteering that works for the individuals to maximise wellbeing benefits.
HCF Training Programme
Hertfordshire Community Foundation offer a wide range of training for voluntary sector organisations. Since the start of the pandemic these sessions have been online however, some are now moving to face to face sessions:
- Emergency first aid at work, Friday 17th June, 9.00am - 4.00pm. Register here.
Online learning is still taking place to meet eveeryone's need. The details about the next session are as follows:
- Crowdfunding Hertfordshire, Monday 6th June, 11.00-11.30 am. Register here.
You can check their full training offer here.
VACANCIES
Wellbeing and Engagement Co-ordinator (£16850 for 21h/w)
St Albans and District Food Bank is an independent charity and a member of the Trussell Trust Foodbank network. Their mission is the prevention or relief of poverty in the local area. St Albans and District Food Bank are a volunteer-based organisation within excess of 100 fantastic active volunteers supporting the breadth of operations from warehousing to client facing distribution centres. The main purpose of this role is to identify broader needs of clients and work to facilitate their engagement with third party agencies in order to find long lasting solutions to their need for Foodbank support and so avoid dependency on Foodbank provision.
Primary responsibilities include:
- Work with partner agencies to agree criteria to identify clients with referral needs.
- Work with the volunteers to help them support distressed clients & to identify clients with referral needs and signposting.
- Proactive in encouraging referrals and connecting with all local communities, particularly those communities that are hard to reach.
- To produce monitoring reports and updates (inc. equal opportunity assessments) on periodic basis to inform Board / CEO / volunteers.
- Develop signposting materials for use by distribution centre volunteers in pointing clients to other local agencies for additional support.
More information on the position and how to apply email raugustine@stalbansdistrict.foodbank.org.uk